Showing clear family ties to its sibling from the Ciapusci Vineyard…yet once again there is so much richness and ready depth apparent that its alcoholic foibles are forgivable. Whatever it accompanies at the table will need flavors that are as big and bold as it is.

Closed nose, but you can pick up the faint smoke and fragrances that will develop in time. Full bodied and loaded with raspberries, blueberries, anise and structured with firm tannins, this one is there for the distance.

This wine had a certain rustic quality to it, as well as a thick, sweetish texture… …a pleasing wine with good fruit-to-tannin balance and would go well with assertively seasoned Thai or Szechuan dishes.

Here is yet another exponent of high ripeness that manages to deliver tantalizing fruitiness despite its outsized alcohol (15.3%). Its full body and fleshy demeanor make it one that demands that it be partnered to boldly flavored foods…

The bouquets of the Ciapusci Vineyard is loaded with black pepper, anise and berries. The berry flavors are intensely rich and are complemented by spice and oak and held together by strong tannins.

Blessed with a wealth of fruit, a surprising level of glycerin and a perfectly proportioned, layered finish. A beautifully made medium-to full bodied Zinfandel that manages to hide its lofty alcohol content.

While ripeness for ripeness' sake is no virtue by our reckoning, ripeness when accompanied by ample fruit can make for a most dramatic Zinfandel. Fairly forthright in oak as well, the wine starts with aromas of ripe plums, cocoa and berries that are replayed in its lush, highly extracted flavors. A big, broad-shouldered Zin with lots of weight and fleshy density, it is very long and unrelenting in its impressions of super-ripe berries and pushy oak, and warrants a bit of cellaring.

A rich yet elegant zin, with a floral blackberry aroma, plus soft and succulent fruit flavors. Shows great balance, good acidity, long finish.

Showing a good sense of range in its creamy, liberally oaked aromas and its deep, fairly forward flavors, this commendable Zin presents more than the typical theme of blackberries and shows a sprinkling of sweeter raspberry and wild cherry elements throughout. It is at once both mouthfilling and quite well balanced and, if just very slightly dry at the finish, is never troubled by heat or astringency. Clearly capable of age, it promises to get even better with anywhere from three to six years of cellaring. (Also appears 12/97)

The nose offers gingersnap and black cherry. Forward fruit fills the palate; berries, cherry and ginger spice. Tasty and ripe, full bodied and generous. This is a wine for serious fruit lovers.

Appealing and pleasant, with delicate aromas of licorice, raspberry, plus lean acidity and firm oak. Turns a bit spritzy on the finish.

Despite its marked alcohol of 14.1%, this wine smells of dried grapes with a bent to late harvest concentration. What it lacks in aroma, and does not find on the palate either, is a strong center of fruitiness. Its tannins remain robust, and there is no evidence of early senescence here, yet, for all of its sinew, it is a wine that seems to us to have arrived at its showy best. Further aging may bring additional softness, but there is no guarantee that its fruit will maintain.

Generous in its outgoing blackberry and raspberry fruitiness, the aromas also have ripe, somewhat concentrated quality. Rich oak is a constant in both nose and mouth, and so too are fruit and high levels of ripeness that add both intensity and a slightly elevated sense of heat in the finish.

Twenty dollars for a zinfandel? For most zinfandels, no. For some, yes. This is one of them. Mendocino County, and particularly the Anderson Valley, is great zinfandel country, as this wine illustrates. It's a big-bodied wine with a deep, garnet red color. The taste is intense, and the flavors are concentrated. The wine has power and a long, lingering finish. The oak is a bit forward, but let's face it, oak is where the action is these days. Keep the wine around a couple of years and the oak will blend in. But who's going to keep it around that long?

Berryish and toasty tones are evident with strong green olive, herbal undercurrents. Fairly smooth and seamless at entry, the wine offers near-mellow, ripe fruitiness. A well-made wine.

Extremely flavorful and rich.

Full-bodied yet graceful, balancing good acidity and oak with lush aromas and flavors of blackberry. Try with grilled beef.

The nose shows notes of dark chocolate, hard fruit candy and oak complexity.

Wines of the Week The moment I read the first sentence of Edmeades’ winery philosophy, I knew I would like this Zinfandel. “Mendocino is more than a geographical location, it’s a state of mind.” On a photography field trip from Berkeley in the summer of ’71, I discovered the Mendocino state of mind…but I digress. Look for ripe aromas of raspberry, cassis and creamy vanilla oak. The palate is rich with lots of ripe red fruits, toasty oak and earthy/forest nuances.

Celebrate all year with California Zinfandel A couple of other hidden gems: a bright, juicy 2014 Edmeades Mendocino County…

Weighing in at a robust 15.5% alcohol, this is nonetheless a rather refined Zinfandel, offering ripe berry fruit, fine peppery spice and a whiff of herb, tamed down wild berry character and an agreeable splach of chocolate.

77% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Syrah, 8% Syrah. Aged in 5% new French oak, 10% new American oak, 85% used French and American oak. NOT too sweet! Appetising and very well handled. Some evolution. Slightly chewy. 16/20.

15 zinfandels to drink with whatever meat your're grilling From Mendocino County, this wine is a blend of 77 percent zinfandel, with petite sirah and syrah. It offered baking spices, black cherry and other dark fruits, an herbal quality and vanilla, plus a potent 15.5 percent alcohol.

Edmeades is not your plump, jammy hedonistic, old-school zinfandel. Instead winemaker Dave Ready Jr. has stuck to Edmeades’ conservative style that is well-made and food-friendly. Berries and plum elements dominate in this very well-balanced table wine.